The Billionaire's Nanny

44

"What do you think about this one?" I raised the ball of yarn so Mia could get a better view. 

"Abby would love it," she said, wheeling the cart closer and taking one to get a better look. "She's a pink princess." 

"So green for Aiden and Pink for Abby, typical twins," I chuckled and filled her cart with the balls in my hand. 

It had been a week since Lucas and I decided to take a break from each other. The week had been horribly difficult and it was even more difficult on days where we had to go through an activity together with the kids. I realized soon enough that we were both doing a s**t job at going with the flow of just employer and employee. So I made the choice to avoid him as much as possible, but that only seemed to make him come closer, clearly, I was not the only one terrible at staying away. 

Lucas could only do so much to respect my boundaries to give me some space and time, but at whatever chance he got, he would make me sit next to him for dinner, or leave a mild touch on my arm when I was not looking. 

I missed him. God, I missed him so damn much. It was killing me to know that he was just a few rooms down the hall yet I had to cry myself to sleep because I could not go to him, I could not hold him or touch him or kiss him. It felt like the foster home again, where we were allowed to stare all day at the jar of cookies on the table but never allowed to go close enough to touch or even have a taste. 

There had been days when my resolve nearly faltered and on the most recent day, I went almost as far as knocking on Lucas's bedroom door. But as the events of the last few weeks replayed in my mind, I found myself retreating to my room, with a renewed feeling of pain and anger. 

He had hidden it from me. And even worse, he still refused to let go after I found out. It was hell living like this, knowing I loved him but could not express it to him, but it would kill me, even more, to know that he only wanted me because he saw me as her. 

Thankfully, I could hold on to the love from Abby and Aiden, and even better, I could distract myself with helping Mia prepare for her engagement which was now barely two weeks away. And if after Mia's engagement, I still needed a distraction, we were approaching the months of celebration and I had a ton of gifts to make and shop for. 

"What will you make for Lucas?" Mia asked as we continued walking down the aisle trying to find the perfect colors to work with those I had chosen. 

Mia had noticed the tension between me and Lucas since she visited more often than any other family member, but I was glad to see that she had not tried to make any further inquires on the topic. But with this question now, I knew she was making a subtle hint at trying to find out what was going on between me and her brother. 

"Why would you think I want to get him something?" I shrugged, ignoring the way her face morphed into shock. 

"I guess I need to remind you that you are Lucas's girlfriend?" she quirked a brow.

"Was..." I corrected, taking out a saucepan from one of the rows and holding it up, "You do know you cannot start a new home without a saucepan," 

Mia gave me a knowing look and grabbed the pan from me, "We're not changing the topic so easily," she put it back in its place and grabbed my hand leading me further down to the cash counter. After hurriedly paying for every other thing we had bought so far, she led me into the nearest cafe at the mall. 

"Spill," she said as the waiter went away to get our orders. 

"There' nothing to spill" I shrugged, trying to keep a straight face at the reminder of all the problems in the last few weeks. 

"You and Lucas have been acting really strange since I got back from London, and even more so after dinner at my parent's. So you either tell me what's going on, or I'll call him right now."

"There's no need to," I said quickly. holding her hand to prevent her from taking her phone. "We broke up." 

"You did what?" 

"Broke up," I sighed, pushing the hair flying in my face away, I could really use a haircut for my hair this week. 

She snorted, looking away. I could tell that she was not in the least happy to hear the news. "Is this about that witch? Sarah, this is happening because of her isn't it?" 

I chewed on the inside of my cheeks, thinking of how to answer. "Partly, As much as I hate to say it, Sarah only did so much to break us apart." She was a threat but Lucas's secrets gave her more ammunition to strike so I could not completely blame her for it.

"What did my brother do this time?" she said in a softer tone, as she gave me a look full of understanding. 

"How do you know it was your brother?" I said flatly. 

"I have a feeling it was his f**k up this time." she reached out and took my hand. "what did he do. I want to help you fix this."

"Sadly this is not something anyone can fix for Lucas. He has to go through this himself and figure out what he wants until he does even I cannot do a thing for him." 

"I knew this was about Sarah." she said in annoyance, "I hate her so much, why did she have to come back."

"Even if she didn't these problems were finally going to surface," I forced a laugh, tightening my hand around hers. "Mia, you don't have to blame yourself for what's going on between us." 

"How long has this gone on?" 

"Only a week," I said, trying to sound hopeful. 

"You have had to go through the torture of living in the same house as Lucas and seeing him every day for one week?" 

"It's not exactly torture," I lied. 

"I'm so upset at both of you for letting Sarah do this to you. Has she tried to contact you since the last time?" 

"Thankfully no," with all the heavy security Lucas had to keep all around me and the kids all day, every day, it was nearly impossible for Sarah to come close. As much as I hated being followed around every day by them, I preferred it a whole lot to being followed by Sarah. "No texts, no calls either. I'm fine now."

"Good, because if that b***h tries to come close to you or my nephew and niece again, I will rip her head off," she said angrily and looked away. I was not the only one that felt sour just talking about her.

"Come on," I said getting to my feet and taking her hand too, "I'm the one going through a breakup, You cannot look so miserable too." 

"That makes me feel so much better," she said drily, getting to her feet too. 

"You're welcome," I chuckled, "and since I'm just a good human, I'll let you help me shop for some new clothes. My closet needs a retouch from an expert," I gave her a playful wink.

As expected, Mia's mood brightened up the moment I said the words. At least I could count on her good mood to rub off on me for the rest of the day. "That is every shopaholic's dream."

We spent the next two hours walking from isle to isle, doing more shopping than I had ever had to do in years. Apart from the fact that it was an easy distraction for me, I almost regretted giving Mia the power she needed to turn me into one of the Kardashian's. 

"I give up," I cried, throwing one of the Louboutins off my legs and sinking into the seat next to Mia. 

"We have barely even started," Mia protested, holding up another dress. 

I looked at the time on my watch and the piles of clothes, jewelry, and shoes laying around the changing room, "We have been at this for almost two hours. If I have to try on one more dress, I will have a mental breakdown."

"Overdramatic much," she laughed, grabbing my hand and pulling me to stand up. "This color would look perfect on you," 

"It's not even my style," I scrunched my face up as I studied the silver mini dress. I could not help but smile inwardly at how pissed Lucas looked the last time I wore something like this. If I were not still so mad, I would have considered wearing this dress for dinner with him. Sadly none of that would be happening. 

"My point exactly," she pulled me to my feet and hung the dress around my neck, "people always look great in a different style." My phone vibrated in my purse as she spoke and she rushed to get it before I got the chance to. 

"It's an alarm," I said, not bothering to hide the joy I felt, "It's time to go get the kids from school." I never thought I could be happier to pick the kids up. 

"Ughh, why?" she threw her head back. "We're doing this again." she wagged a finger in my face.

"You're the one supposed to be shopping for more things, you're getting married." 

"I can shop after getting married. I won't get to shop for you when I'm halfway across the globe, which is why we're doing this again soon," she pouted. "And Lilian is coming with us next time."

"Let's just go get the kids." 

After checking out, we picked the kids from school, a major highlight of my day. The kids were excited to have Mia there to pick them too but were almost disappointed to see that Zoey had not come too. Their joy returned to their faces though after Mia offered to treat them to some Chinese takeouts for lunch. 

"Is daddy home?" Abby asked, pointing to the red car in the driveway as the car came to a slow halt. 

"Daddy does not come home now," Aiden said with a sigh as he struggled to take his seat belt off. 

"Let me get that for you," Mia offered, as she gave me a puzzled look. "Is Lucas home?"  

"Maybe he went to work in a different car," I said, wondering why his car was parked there. "Though it's not a problem if he is home." Lies. It was easier to keep my distance when he was not home and torturing me by just his presence. 

The kids raced down the driveway as they always did when I brought them home, while Mia and I helped to bring all the bags down from the car. Following behind the kids, I carried the bags inside, and the kids went to their room with Mia. Apart from the loud squeals and cries from the kids as they made their way upstairs, the house was quiet, making me wonder if Lucas was really home. 

With a shrug, I rushed back to the car and picked up the rest of the bags which were heavier than the first since they had more groceries. With a little struggle, I made it past the foyer, noticing how quiet the house was this time. I walked into the kitchen to put the cold things away first and almost dropped the bags in surprise as my eyes met with Lucas.

His hair was disheveled in a mess and he had a large sweater on that did nothing to hide his masculinity. He had a tired look on the face and I could guess that he had been home all day. But apart from that, his knuckles were white and pale. He must have had to do a lot of work here at home. Even in his messy state, he was still the most handsome man on the planet, at least on my planet. 

I shook my head briefly, trying to erase all the memories of the dreams I had had about him all week. If I was going to keep my composure around him, I needed a clear head. 

"Let me give you a hand," he offered, taking a few bags from my hand and dropping them on the counter.

"I'll handle it, it's fine," I said walking past him to put the cold things away first. 

 "You're jumpy these days," he noted, but it sounded more like a grunt. 

"I was not expecting to see you home so early," I said drily, trying to focus on keeping everything in its place and leaving. But of course, my brain easily turned into a jumbled mess as he stepped closer, brushing his arm against mine to reach for the other bag. 

"I'm parked outside," he reminded me, "I did not leave for work today."

"A lot of work here at home?" I asked, trying to keep my breath steady and keeping my gaze anywhere but on him. I was not the best at feigning uninterest when it came to Lucas. 

"You could call it that," a low chuckle rumbled from his chest, along with a deep sigh that somehow left me worried. 

"Are you okay Lucas?" I turned just in time to see him take some painkillers from the cabinet above. 

"Hmm-hmm," he nodded and dropped the bottle on the counter with a thud. "I just have a bad headache," 

"And you're telling me now?" I pushed the groceries away, making my way around the counter to him. 

"You haven't exactly been talking to me," he chuckled, taking his seat back. He opened the bottle and raised it in his mouth to take some pills directly. 

"It's not funny," I held his hand just in time to stop him, "and you cannot go pumping your system with pills like that." Ignoring the hesitant look on his face, I placed the back of my palm over his head, "Jesus, you're burning up," 

"I spent the whole day under the covers," 

Mia walked in as he spoke. "I thought we'd have to send a search party for you," she said but quickly clamped her mouth shut as she saw Lucas. "I didn't know you were home," 

"Good to see you too little sister,"' he growled. raising his hand to take the pills again. This time I took the pills away and snapped the cover close. 

"Your brother has a fever and he thought it was a great idea to keep it to himself till noon," I traded the bottle of pills for the thermometer and walked back to him. 

"I don't have a fever," he protested.

"Let the thermometer do the talking," Mia stood next to me as I pointed the thermometer to his head. I flipped it over to show him. It read one hundred and three, "You're sick Lucas."

"I'm fine," he moved to stand up, but I held him down. "It will be gone by morning." 

"I'm sure," I said drily, "Mia can you help me give the kids lunch, I have a big baby to look after." I gave Lucas a scowl and for some reason, he had the strength to chuckle. 

"Of course. And please tell me if he does not get better, I'm sure mom would be able to persuade him to go to the hospital." she gave a toothed smile and reached for the takeout bags on the counter. 

"Hospital?!" Lucas yelled, "Nobody's going to the hospital," I could tell he hated hospitals. Seeing as I had to see my mother for the last time in one, I was not a big fan either. 

"Then get better soon," she kissed his forehead and made her way back upstairs.

I set the thermometer down, "have you had lunch?" 

"I'm not hungry," he growled.  

"Breakfast?" 

"You sound like a nurse, and I hate nurses."

"And you sound like a child," I said taking my takeout bag and stepping in between his spread legs. "Lucky for you, I love kids." 

"Do you love me?" he grinned. It was so easy to forget that up until this morning all I wanted to do was stay far from him. 

"You need to eat, I can see a ton of pills in your future for the next few days," I said, trying to dodge the answer to that question. 

"Scary," he made a face, and snaked his arms around my waist, driving past all the boundaries I had set through the last week. "but you still did not answer my question. Do you love me?"

"Your timing is awful," I placed a hand on his chest to push him away, but his grip only tightened, "and you probably forgot that you cannot touch me like this anymore, we broke up."  

"Right," he said not bothering to hide the disappointment in his face, "you broke up with me, how could I forget?" he looked away, but I did not miss the hint of accusation in his tone. 

"You're still holding me," 

"Yeah," he said, and slowly released me from his grip, "I cannot help myself when I'm around you."

"You need to learn to," at least one of us had to learn to, and seeing as I might need to change my underwear after this, I clearly was not the one to have more. 

An awkward silence filled the room for the next few seconds and I almost forgot why I was even standing so close to him in the first place until he cleared his throat lightly. "Lunch?" 

"Yeah," I shook my head, trying to clear out all the thoughts that swarmed my brain, "You should feed yourself, I'll get the pills for you."